A place to find the most amazing Latin American folk tales

peru

The origins of the Inca Empire have many similar stories and the one of the Ayar Brothers is one of the most popular versions.

Long, long, very long time ago over the Pacaritambo Mountain, four young men and for young women emerged from the land. Ayar Manco and his wife Mama Ocllo, Ayar Cachi and his wife Mama Cora, Ayar Uchu and his wife Mama Rahua and finally Ayar Auca and his wife Mama Huaco. They were the Wiracocha god sons and daughters which meant they were brothers and sisters also.

Ayar Cachi was the strongest of all, he was so strong that every time he threw rocks with his slingshot, this rocks knocked down mountains or reached the highest part of the sky and made it rain and thunder.

The other three brothers where very jealous of his power and decided to leave Ayar Cachi out of the “Let’s build the Inca Empire” equation so they tricked him and his wife into going in to a cave to search for food and locked him up for good with a giant stone. Legend says that his brother’s betrayal made Ayar Cachi so mad that his screams made the earth tremble and the skies shiver.

The other brothers continued their quest, eventually arriving to the Huanacaure Mountain where they found a stone idol. Ayar Uchu decided to destroy it but as soon as he touched it he was turned into stone.

The remaining brothers knew they had an important mission so they couldn’t stop to grieve. Ayar Auca miraculously grew wings and flew away hoping to find the place they were so desperately looking for in order to found the Inca Empire. He flew over a place called “Pampa del Sol” and decide to explore it. As soon as he landed he also was turned into stone.

There was only one brother left, Ayar Manco and as we mentioned in our Manco Capac & Mama Ocllo Legend, he is the one that received the honor and responsibility of leading the foundation of the Inca Empire.

He arrived to the city of Cusco, sunk his golden stick and started to build the new Inca civilization and Empire.

The Peruvian rain forest is amazing in every way. It has unbelievable biodiversity and magical landscapes but it also gives births to many myths and legends that will make your jaw drop.

If you ever find yourself walking alone in the middle of the jungle and suddenly hear a painful whisle-like sound just run, find more people and stick with them because El Tunceh might be after you.

This creature is according to the legend a demon or spirit that walks around the rainforest at night. It is the protector of nature and a lost soul condemned to walk around the same paths he walked when he was alive. He collects the souls of those who died in the rainforest and takes the life of those who harm it.

El Tunche will just scare you off if you are in good terms with nature and respect the regions fauna and flora. But if you are disrespectful and harm the regions plants and animals in any way then you are in big trouble and might not see the next day.

Some say that he whistles to deceit you in to answering by whistling back and giving away your exact location. Some others say that it can change its appearance in order to attract lonely travelers or that the only way of recognizing it is by looking to its goat-like feet.

There are different versions about this same myth and maybe this is just a made up story in order for tourists and children to take good care of the natural environment of the region. But maybe, just maybe El Tunche really exists. So behave and take care of nature. You never know…

Sarah Ellen was born on March 6th of 1862 in England. Legend says she was accused of murder and witchcraft and condemned to be chained and sealed inside an iron casqued while still alive. On June 9 of 1913 while the sentence was being carried out and right before sealing the casqued she announced her curse “When 80 years have passed I will rise from my grave and get revenge from my murderers’ and all their descendants”

The English people afraid of this curse forbid her husband to bury her in British lands so he had to find another place for her remains.

Finally after months of traveling looking for a place that would accept them, he arrived to a small town South of Peru named Pisco and buried Sarah Hellen there.

In 1993, after almost 80 years had passed, a popular talk show hosted by Cuban hostess Cristina Saralegui aired an interview to an “expert” in “Vampires” that announced that there were 3 important Vampires in Latin America, one just about to wake up in the Southern part of Peru.

Peruvians were astonished by this news and many believers of the occult or people simply thrived by curiosity went to Sarah Ellen’s grave and monitored every move. They had watch groups formed for several nights before the “awaken” and on the 80’s anniversary of her death many where standing in front of her grave holding crucifixes and wooden stakes (just in case).

After nothing happened (obviously) some of the people started to believe that Sarah Ellen was not a Vampire but instead a Saint and she had being wrongly accused and tortured. Nowadays many people visit her grave bringing her flowers and asking for miracles.

Once upon a time there was an old shepherd who lived with his beautiful young daughter in a little village at the top of the Andes. The girl pastured the sheep, llamas and other animals from her father’s farm.

Suddenly a young man started to visit her at the mountains. He went to see her every day dressed in a very elegant way. Black suite and black hat (like if he was going to some sort of gala in the Andes) and a beautiful shiny white scarf. They hang out together during the day when he visited while she pastured the animals.

Eventually they became close friends and at one of this friendly visits he asked the girl to play a game. “If you pick me up, I’ll pick you up”. She trusted the man and lifted her arms facing him. He grabbed her and by making a quick jump into the sky he turned into a magnificent condor and took the girl to his nest.

They lived together in his nest for a long time. He brought her food and took care of her and she fell in love with him and gave him a beautiful baby. The girl loved them both but she missed her father deeply and cried every night thinking about how lonely her poor old dad was.

One day she saw a humming bird passing by and asked him for help. The bird would go to the village and bring her father to rescue her and her child and in reward the humming bird will have every flower in her dad’s farm for himself. The cheerful bird accepted and on the next day the girl’s father was there with a dead donkey to distract the Condor while they rescued the girl and her child.

Once they were gone and the Condor had finished eating he returned to his nest and instead of his family he found two green frogs in their place. The humming bird was waiting for him there and told him that the girl and their son turn into frogs right in front of his eyes and there was nothing he could do.

Legend says that now the Condor watches over the Andes trying to find a new girl to bring to his nest and just once in a while when he sees someone as beautiful as the shepherd’s daughter he becomes an elegant young man and visits them trying to trick them into playing a game with him.

The Amazon river or “Rio Amazonas” is located in South America. It is the largest river in the world and second in length, with approximately 6,400 km (4.000 miles). The Amazon river crosses 7 countries of South America, Guyana, Ecuador, Venezuela, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia and Peru. It also home of around 3,000 known species, some of them, very dangerous like the piranha and the anaconda.

Here is what the legend says how it was born.

The Legend says that long time ago when the world was being created, The Sun “Guarací” and the Moon “Jací”, were touched by cupid and fall in love. Unfortunately, the could only see each other just a couple of hours in the morning and in the afternoons which make them extremely sad.

Guarací waited all day to see Jali, however, every time she arrived he had to leave. One day, where they can see each other for a couple of hours, Guaraci proposed Jaci to marry her and be together forever, Jací excited, said yes! Nevertheless, they both knew that their marriage was impossible because, days and nights don’t last forever. Jací extremely sad said “goodbye forever” to Guaraci and hide inside the Amazonian trees. Since then, they never saw each other again. Jací cried unstoppable for a long time. Her tears flooded all over jungle and forests until they reached into the Atlantic Sea, giving birth to the Amazona’s River.

The Amazon gave birth to many great stories and legends, one being the one of the Pink Dolphin, this beautiful creature really exists and lives inside the waters of the Amazon river, they live in pairs or family groups and can be as big as 3 meters long weighing up to 125 kilograms.

Legend says that once upon a time there was a young Indian warrior who was very handsome and was loved by everyone. The Indian Gods were extremely jealous so in a vicious moment of envy they turned the young warrior into a Pink dolphin, bounding him to sail the Amazon waters for eternity away from the people who cherished him and who he cherished.

Every once in a while, in the villages by the Amazon River, a young handsome man appears wearing a hat made out of straw. He attends the villages’ parties where women can’t resist his charm and dancing skills. Every time this man appears he picks one of the girls and seduces her into going with him. The next morning this girl wakes up with no memory of what happened and, most shockingly, pregnant with the stranger’s baby.

It is a common belief among the villagers that this man who mysteriously appears and disappears after impregnating young girls is the warrior who was turned into a pink dolphin who for a night at time is able to defeat the gods and come out to flirt and have fun among the people. He wears the hat to disguise his breathing hole, the only attribute that might give him away.

Villagers attribute many of the single moms kids from the villages to this pink Dolphin and villagers tell their girls to be careful about strangers wearing hats and to basically stay away from the river at night.

This is a story about the beginning of one of the biggest South American empires that ever existed.

It is about the founding parents of an entire civilization who did a super nice job laying the grounds for the construction of one of the most magical cities in the whole wide world.

The legend of Manco Capac & Mama Ocllo, the beginning of the Inca Empire.

Many many maaaany years ago before Taylor Swift, the iPhone or even Bernie Sanders existed, men lived in caves. They walked naked among each other hunting and collecting food in order to stay alive.

The Sun God, Wiracocha, saw this and decided to send his son Manco Capac and his daughter Mama Ocllo to teach this savages new awesome ways to do stuff and become civilized people.

Before sending them down to earth he gave Manco Capac a gold specter and said: “Manco and Mama, walk around the land and try to sink the stick in the ground. When it does sink then it means that you found the promise land and you should build our empire there”

The brother and sister/husband and wife (and they called the other ones savages) came out from the waters of Lake Titicaca in the highlands of Peru and followed their father’s command. They walked and walked trying to sink the specter in the land but the land was really really dry and the thing wouldn’t sink!

When they were feeling defeated and about to give up they decided to take a little break on the Huanacaure Mountain in the now well-known Cusco City. Suddenly the unexpected happened, yes, the specter sunk! It finally did! Both were over the top excited and probably danced around and had lots of fun.

Manco Capac was in charge of teaching the savage men how to take care of the land and show them about agriculture, finishing, construction, religion, etc. Mama Ocllo taught women about textiles and domestic labor (feminism was around seven centuries later).

And this is how the Inca Empire started and how Cusco city became the Capital of the Inca Empire, the “belly button of the world” and bearer of Machu Picchu, the hidden city of the Incas and world wonder.